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Riad: Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing almost all industries, and food production is no exception. From precision agriculture to the meat cultivated in the laboratory, the AI ​​allows more sustainable, efficient and innovative ways to feed the growing population of the world.

One of the most promising applications is the use of AI to address food loss, one of the biggest challenges faced by global food security. Every year, approximately $ 1 billion of food is lost before consumers even reach the deterioration, the inefficiencies of the supply chain and the market rejections.

But solutions with AI begin to change that, helping to extend the useful life, maximize nutritional value and reduce environmental impact.

At the forefront of this movement is Essence Food, a company that has combined AI techniques, 3D printing and advanced lyophilization to transform surplus products into food products rich in nutrients and durable.

Directed by the CEO and founder Marcio Barradas, the company is being a pioneer in a data -based approach for food preservation, demonstrating that avant -garde technology can turn food loss into the opportunity, but on the planet and public health.

Duration A TED 2017 talk, Barradas highlighted the crucial difference between food loss and food waste. He explained that food loss occurs early in the supply chain, before the products reach consumers, while food waste occurs at the consumer level.

The consequences of food loss are significant, which leads to a drastic reduction in the volume of food available for consumption. Several factors contribute to this problem, including low yields, quality inconsistencies, deterioration and inefficiencies in transport and storage.

A particularly worrying aspect of food loss is the rejection of fruits and vegetables perfectly edible by retailers due to aesthetic imperfections. This practice results in fixed amounts of nutritional bees of discarded food before it reaches a dish.

When reflecting on his Ted talk, Barradas told Arab News: “It was a call to the industry to wake up and stop wasting food when they can monetize them real. Therefore, it was garbage to cash.”

Despite the growing awareness of food loss, Barradas observed that as recently as 2019, large -scale solutions had not been implemented to address the effective problem. Determined to change this, the launch of Essencia Food, a company dedicated to reducing food loss through advanced technology.

By integrating AI with the lyophilization process, the essence of food reuses the surplus and rejected products that could otherwise be wasting. This not only preserves valuable nutrients, but also addresses health and long -term environmental concerns associated with food production.

Freezing drying, unlike other dehydration methods, retains a higher percentage of the original nutrients of a food, while the significant useful life of life and product quality. These advantages make it an ideal technology to address food loss at global scale.

After its initial launch in Spain, Essence Food quickly expanded its footprint in the Middle East, starting with the EAU and now moved to Saudi Arabia.

“We present it in Gulfood in Dubai, and surprisingly, we won as a more innovative startup in 2019,” said Barradas, referring to the company printed in the company, which have been exhibited in the prestigious event of the food industry.

“This allowed us to expand very fast in the region and begin to see how we can optimize all the resources that exist, knowing that there is a region that matters most of its fruits and vegetables.

“He encouraged to win that prize to Gulfood, what I saw is that in the Middle East, there is an advantage compared to Europe. It is less bureaucratic. When the decision makers believe here in something, they will take him to the front and will be implemented.”

Drying and 3D impression are not new technologies, AI has revolutionized its efficiency. When Barradas founded Essence Food, the company was already “very proactive with automatic learning.”

“All our data were stored and analyzed in terms of accelerating the processes, having a better decision making and also using that automatic learning capacity to really teach our machines.”

While the company worked to develop a more efficient freezer, AI emerged as the key to optimizing the technique. “Now, the age of AI was really strong in the last two years. So what we are doing is a virtual library,” said Barradas.

Each fruit or vegetable that essents the process of food lyophilization suffers a rigorous analysis in a laboratory. Strawberries, bananas, tomatoes, beet: each ingredient is tested to determine its precise nutritional content.

The data collected feed on a virtual AI library, creating a permanent database of nutritional ideas. This system allows an unprecedented food personalization level, adapted to individual dietary needs.

“Having that library now connected with AI, you can only imagine how we can customize food for each individual.”

Barradas foresees a future in which AFo food technology plays a direct role in preventive medical care. Through the new Essence Food smartphone application, users can customize their nutrition with nutrient -rich foods, including a healthier version of rubber bears.

“If I connect your mobile device, which you use every day, and know your steps and habits, everything is stored there. If you connect to this application we are launching, you can have a personalized week.”

“Then, you will take two rubber bears per day, or a gummy bear a day, not to cure any disease, but to prevent you from getting a disease.”

He believes that modern diets have led to excessive dependence on supplements and pharmaceutical products. “We are only dealing with the consequences, with the symptoms, but we are not fighting the causes,” he said.

Beyond nutrition, automatic learning is also promoting new sustainability initiatives within Essence Food lyophilization technology.

One of the most innovative advances in the company is the recovery of water from the fruits of the drying process. This recovered water has the potential to support vertical agriculture and other scarce water agricultural initiatives.

“There is something really surprising in this technology,” Barradas said. “It doesn’t need water, but brings back water. So, every time it dries in the machine, it gives it drinking water that was inside the fruit.”

The implications of this discovery are particularly relevant to regions such as Saudi Arabia, where water scarcity is a pressing problem.

“If we load the machine with 40 kg or strawberries, we will eliminate 35 liters, 32 liters or drinking water,” said Barradas.

This water recovery system can be integrated with vertical agricultural operations, creating a closed circuit system where food loss is minimized and essential resources are preserved.

“We want to create a synergy with vertical agriculture, where we recover the losses of food from vertical farms in the desert, and with the water we recover, we create more foods,” Barradas said.

“Because Saudi Arabia, being such a fixed region and knows the region where the dates are cultivated, it will be surprising to take technology to the source and not take the ingredient to Riyadh, for example, to transform it.

“Because the impact of transport and the movement of fresh ingredients is really great on the planet. We are looking to go to the ingredient source to minimize everything that has to do with CO2 emissions.”